Pages

Monday, 12 September 2016

101 Fiction has always leant heavily toward horror so it seems fitting that while we re-synchronise our theme cycle to sit with the year we take the opportunity to slip a special horrorful Hallowe'en issue in between the cracks.

Pure coincidence that it will also be issue thirteen, I'm sure...

So what are we looking for? Horror, naturally. But our usual genre pillars still stand: fantasy, science fiction and surreal. (and let's face it, we definitely have a soft spot for the occasional odd little crime twister.)

A loose mix of themes: Hallowe'en or unlucky thirteen or just something dark and chilling, something befitting that special night of the year when we embrace the dwellers in the darkness, when the shadows rise and ordinary people can wear their inner demons for all to see.

It could be a treat gone horribly wrong, or a trick gone horribly right. A mask with more spirit than its partying wearer bargained for. A gambler eschewing the dress-up parties and discovering a shady backstreet den he's somehow never found before, laughing as they suggest he offer up his soul as collateral. Perhaps a galactic trader is persuaded to follow an old Earth tradition honouring the dead, as thirteen planets align and the long crates in his hold begin to rattle. Or a witch augur of the thirteenth legion seeks to know her sisters' future but can see no further than the coming All Hallow's Eve.

You don't have to use the theme words, and you don't have to make it fit all the themes; as long as the story sits somewhere under their black umbrellas that's fine by us. As always though, the story must be exactly one hundred words long and have a one word title.

The title must not be Hallowe'en, Unlucky, Lucky or Thirteen.

Submissions will close on Saturday 15th October. There's no preference or privilege granted to early entries, so please take your time, edit, and send when it's the best its going to be.